To address the aforementioned areas in need of improvement, we recommend the following strategies

The World Cup and the Olympic Games have the opportunity to brand Rio de Janeiro as a premiere eco-tourism capital of the world.  To save world’s most biologically diverse and only remaining Rain Forest and the Atlantic Forest, eco-tourism could be an ideal solution.  Eco-tourism can be used to educate people about the threat of global warming and consequences of deforestation.

Several factors need to be in play if eco-tourism is to be introduced properly. The responsible tourism agencies must:

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  educate the traveler;
  
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  provide funds for conservation;
  
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  directly benefit the economic development and political empowerment of local communities
  
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  foster respect for different cultures and for human rights
  

In sum, eco-tourism has to be carefully developed to avoid public controversy and concern because “green washing.” “Green washing” is a trend towards the commercialization of tourism schemes disguised as sustainable, nature based, and environmentally friendly eco-tourism.  To prevent this, a strong regulatory mechanism has to be put in place so that there is no direct impact on the natural habitat.  Strict guidelines on waste disposal and recycling, especially towards sewage disposal and garbage, become more entrenched as the tourism market grows.  Further, specifically designated areas of the natural habitat should be set aside for tourism, while others should be closed to the public except for research purposes.

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  the already proposed aquarium;
  
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  eco museums replicating the Amazon rain forest as environment education centers;
  
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  adventure rides based on Amazon forest animals (ex. anacondas, crocodiles, giant rodents);
  
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  a signature animal parade (like a Disney parade) that can showcase the flora and fauna with local culture, music and samba;
  
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  restaurants and cafes based on themes of the rain forest;
  
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  a zoo with bird park and butterfly park as well as geological park/Museum of History of South America;
  
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  theaters showing movies on wildlife, environment and climate change;
  
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  a Brazilian Gastronomy Center
  

Rio can also use the upcoming major world events as an opportunity to create the world’s first carbon-neutral Olympic Games.  In order to achieve this, the Zero Energy Building (ZEB) concept should be explored and implemented for the new buildings.  Existing venues should be renovated to as net zero energy buildings. Most of the venues have large roof surfaces that can be used for photovoltaic panels. This should be attached on to the existing electric grid such that when the venues are not in use, they still contribute to the electric grid of the city/state.

The amount of night sky pollution has not been assessed by the organizing committee. Light pollution, though not as overtly damaging as air or water pollution, is nonetheless a blight on the city’s general livability.  Because the city of Rio de Janeiro offers some breathtaking night views, a night sky pollution reduction program should be developed. A simple approach towards reducing light pollution would be using low sodium discharge lighting. This program should be continued even after the Olympics and extended to other Brazilian cities.  The Rio 2016 committee could recommend this as an addition to the Agenda 21 requirements by the International Olympic committee.

In addition to the Olympic Games’ carbon-neutral offsetting program, we recommend that the Rio 2016 committee work towards developing another offsetting program with the Brazilian Government. This program could be modeled on the United Nations Collaborative initiative on reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, or UN-REDD, and could aim towards saving the forests around Rio and in Brazil by making the preservation of these forests count as carbon offsets or credits.  This could lead to an influx of money to the program from countries or industries that buy these credits.  These credits could also be traded on the European Climate exchange (ECX) or the Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX).  Another idea that could boost the carbon trading business in Rio would be to set up a trading floor in Rio.  Since Brazil has enormous potential to become the world leader in carbon offsets this might be an idea worth pursuing.

The money generated from this carbon trading could be put in a fund to be used to save the forests around Rio and the Amazon forests.  This program would also benefit from the carbon neutral offsetting programs of all future Games and major sporting events.

One of the major goals of the transport plan in the 2016 bid document is that there will be an increase in the ridership of mass transit systems from the current 12% of total trips to close to 40%.  Three billion US dollars will be invested into the transport system in the coming decade.  In order for Rio to reach this goal there must be a more proactive role to make ridership user friendly.  Rio can improve its transport system through integration and planning, training and management, and use of information and technology. These approaches should be considered with a long term environmental considerations, incorporating the aforementioned “green cities” approach into a comprehensive plan that will surpass political changes.

According to lectures from Professor Pedro da Luz Moreira , among others, the Olympic Planning Committee is still working out their final transportation plan.  Our first recommendation is to develop a consensus building approach to bring the goals of politicians and developers to the table.  While the developers in Barra de Tijuca want investments to be concentrated there, other city officials seek to direct redevelopment to Rio’s center.  Only after they work out a solution to their conflicting interests can Rio work on improving its Olympic hosting and long-term vision.

The disintegration between buses, metros, ferries, and trains make it difficult for tourists to make travel plans in Rio and Brazil.ⁱ By forming coalitions among the representatives from different agencies, tourists would have a more efficient way of planning their travels.  This would also increase the opportunities for tourism.

Rio de Janeiro and the Olympic Committee are currently working to better integrate the public transit systems so that riders can easily connect from metro, train, or bus without having to purchase separate tickets or go far to transfer.  The difficulties with this program are that each of the transport modes is mainly operated by different private agencies.  One way to better improve Rio’s transportation legacy is to combine the stations of Metro, Bus Rapid Transit (BRT), and rail to create a “transit hub,” where dense and mixed-use development will be targeted and incentivized. Transit Oriented Development (TOD) will be a strategy for each station.  These hubs will have their own unique identity and be focused adjacent to efficient transport connections. 

Barra de Tijuca, for example, where the Olympic Village will be located, does not currently have a regional connection with central Rio.  Designating a “transit hub” in this area will accommodate future growth within a half-mile radius so that city residents can maintain its healthy lifestyle and not depend on their car for basic errands.  This is in consideration of public health standards for exercise and avoiding obesity.  These “transit hubs” can also be planned as hospitable and well designed stations and be commercial and cultural centers. For your convenience, a map of the transportation plans from the Olympic bid document is provided in Appendix 1.

After analyzing the bid document, workforce training for the Olympics, it is necessary to better accommodate foreign commuters.  This can be done by training taxi cab drivers in basic languages such as English, Spanish, French, Mandarin, or whomever are the targeted arrivals. Cab drivers should have a map of the city and the Olympic venues to narrow the communication gap between tourists and the cab drivers.   

In order to reduce private automobile transport during the Olympics a campaign should be launched using license plate numbers.  Cars would be allowed or prohibited from driving on odd or even days depending on the last number of their license plates.  This was a successful program in Seoul, South Korea, 1988.  This campaign would encourage carpooling and lower the emissions of carbon dioxide.

Signage is another transportation issue that should be addressed.  Extra signage indicating bus lines should be posted around the city to improve visitor navigation.  The website www.vadeonibus.com.br gives citizens and tourists information about what is posted on all signs.  This leads us to consider what other information should be available and how it could be communicated to visitors and citizens of Rio.  

Rio de Janeiro should use the Olympics as an opportunity to further expand their information and technology capabilities to ensure safe and efficient transport to and from Olympic Venues and around the city.  This can be done by utilizing GPS data to create software that can be used as a mobile phone application.  This will give commuters accurate information about the location of the buses, metros, or trains they need to take to improve the efficiency of public transport.

As a tourist or visitor to Rio, we were surprised by its advanced use in electronics and Wi-Fi technologies.  Its citizens vote and file their income taxes via Internet, and it is not uncommon for a waiter or waitress to bring a wireless credit card reader or even a street vendor to have a wireless credit card reader to collect payment.  Rio has a perfect opportunity to extend its technology into developing a phone application, made especially for the Olympics, which will give travelers live information and shortest possible routes to meet their destinations.  This program would be coordinated with hotel data, Olympic Venues, major sites of interest, and live traffic information.  This research and development will boost Rio’s legacy in communication and tourism development, and help Rio lead the way in setting the standard for information communication for future large international events.

We want the Olympic spectators and citizens of Rio to feel comfortable traveling via public transport and to not have to depend on taxis or private automobiles.  This phone application recommendation is based on the case study by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation, where they hired 200 private software developers to introduce the “Catch the Bus” application.  Using GPS data, transport stop arrivals will show up on the phone screens. Users of this program know how much time they have until the next bus arrives, and they can plan their lives accordingly.  What makes this application important is that its users will be familiar with the operations of their own phone.

The Olympic bid currently plans to have “user friendly and targeted transport information, including route planning and website, paper based transport guides and information kiosks within the city and at the venues.”ⁱⁱ  The recommendation for an actual phone application aims to go beyond these goals and set a standard for future events.  There is a plan to create a sophisticated Traffic and Transport Control Center (CCO) that will provide continuous monitoring.  The technology exists; it is a matter of communicating this information with actual commuters. 

The marketing of this mobile application will be integral to its success.  The application should be up and running well before the games start. As well, it needs an attractive name, such as the “Riolympic” application, and will be easily downloadable at each hotel or via a website.  This can work with other marketing techniques aforementioned, including using novellas to promote these technological innovations.  In such a young country where 41% of the population is between 15 and 39, Brazil must help set the standard for technological innovations.

Housing is an important aspect of the sporting mega-events, as there is a need to house not only the athletes and staff who participate in and run the events, but also the spectators, volunteers and journalists who attend.  Housing for these groups is temporary, while housing for residents of Rio de Janeiro is permanent.

The Associacao Brasilera da Industria de Hotels (ABIH), as noted by their President Dr. Alvaro Bezerra de Mello, believes that tourism will increase as a result of the games, following the pattern of the 2006 World Cup in Germany and the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona.^iv  Other sources have stated an optimistic 30% projected increase in tourism.^v It is beyond the scope of this report to evaluate the validity of these claims and to predict any volatile changes in worldwide or national economics in Brazil, which may negatively affect tourism trends.  In addition, the effects of sporting event may not be immediate; in Barcelona, which is noted for its increase in tourism as a result of the 1992 Olympic Games, hotel stays dropped to 54% in 1994, from 64% during the games, before reaching 80% in 1998, 6 years after the Games.^vi This places high financial strain on the development new hotels and increases the risk of business failure. Given the fluctuation in Brazil’s tourism within the past couple years, putting safeguards in place will help to protect housing investments made in the wake of these mega-events.

The 2004 Olympic Games in Athens created a Village with 2,296 units, which currently house 10,000 residents.  Located several miles outside of the downtown area, the complex was designed to be subsidized housing with low market rents post-Olympics. Community centers and other amenities were to be included as well.^vii  However, the location of the Olympic Village, combined with a lack of proper connectivity, caused the community to become isolated and cut off from the rest of Athens.  To make matters worse, there was also poor maintenance of the site. Promotional pictures on the marketing site for housing in the Olympic Village show that the site is now covered with litter and the community amenities promised were never built.^viii

The hotel prices for the 2000 Sydney Games were fixed at 1998 prices, with inflation, by contract.  Sydney, which had 30,000 rooms and another 5,870 expected to be built, had adequate room for its guests.^ix  However, in contractually fixing hotel prices to hedge against price increases due to higher demand for rooms during the Summer Games, Sydney was able to better ensure affordability and thus allowing for broader appeal in its tourist base for the games.

Atlanta's official Olympic reports criticized the crowding at Olympic Village, but elsewhere, supply far exceeded demand. There's a need to correctly project participation and “spectatorship.”  This is especially important because of how housing for the Olympics is developed—the athletes’ village must be separate from spectator housing for security reasons. These two distinct housing populations result in a specialized housing system that allows for both overcrowding and vacancies to exist simultaneously.  When there are limited financial or housing accommodation resources, appropriate allocation of housing stock is important to minimize unnecessarily vacancies and overcrowding.  This can only be achieved through proper planning and in depth studies, which can project the number of spectators attending the games.

Beijing’s housing development for the Olympics was negatively affected by the negative effects of its housing bubble, and the addition of Olympic infrastructure worsened the pricing situation. The Beijing Olympic Village is located in the North Fourth Rings inside in Chaoyang district, which is the most expensive area in Beijing.^x

The Media Center was also close to the Olympic Village, which, while convenient for Olympic staff, also contributed to the price boom in the area and resulted in an unsustainable level of housing costs for average citizens. Today, because of high prices, the vacancy rate in the Olympic Village is still higher than that of average housing developments or office buildings.^xi

Recommendations:

Housing development for mega-sporting events must address the needs of the events, including the construction of new venues that will ultimately need to be integrated into a community.  The 2007 Pan American Games and 2004 Athens Olympic Games are prime examples of the long term planning and need for guarantees of further development post-Olympics. The 2007 Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro were unique in that for the first time in the history of those games, athlete accommodations were created in a manner similar to that of the Olympic village. This action may be termed a financial success as 95% of the units were sold within 24 hours of its initial offering.^xii  However, there are reports that many of the units purchased were unoccupied, and were purchased for speculation purposes.^xiii  In addition, because the athletes’ village was built on wetlands, the issue of subsidence thereby became an issue for the development.^xiv Although the area is financially successful for the developer, these ongoing issues highlight the differences between the financial success and the community development and integration aspects of development.

Furthermore, several parallels can be drawn between the proposed village in Rio de Janeiro and that of Athens.  Both are communities that are developed away from established cores of the city, with promises of further development post Olympics, and with limited mass transit connectivity. 

However, unlike in Athens, it is not expected that the future use of the Olympic Village in Rio de Janeiro will be for low-income housing; rather, the prices for the housing may be higher, following the current trends of increasing real estate pricing in Rio de Janeiro.^xv  The Beijing games in 2008 showed that the prices for Olympic housing can maintain high values post games. As previously noted, the 2007 Pan American Games resulted in speculation of the units built for the site.  Such speculation does not encourage the further economic development and provision of local services, as well as the local jobs, which come with such positions.  Thus, the community that results is one that may be a “bedroom community,” which tend to be car-oriented and will require extensive improvements to the transportation system, perhaps more than what is currently planned. As a result of the increased business risk in commercial development, it may be possible that some of the promised community amenities, such as schools and a shopping center, will not be built.  This non-diversification of the community would be antithetical to the idea of post-Olympic games community integration, so that concurrent economic development alongside the construction of the Olympic Village may create a better long-term action plan that provides security for future vitality of the development.

Using cruise ships should be considered a viable option to account for the “peak” tourism with mega-sporting events such as the Olympics, because it has the potential to mitigate the risks posed by overdevelopment of the supply of tourist housing in relation to sustainable demand. In addition, it should be noted that in Barcelona, fears of construction and overcrowding resulted in a decrease in hotel stay from 70% in 1991 to 64% in 1992.^xvi The usage of cruise ships also has the additional effect of demonstrating the ability of Rio de Janeiro to serve as a port of call for these ships now and in the future.

One weakness of this plan, however, is that it may reduce the income to Rio de Janeiro’s businesses.  Cruise ships often provide their own meals, and if the people are staying on the ships, then they may not necessarily be benefiting local businesses.  There is the perception that the autonomy of such ships will cause a loss for Rio in capitalizing on the temporary effects of the Olympics.  However, if part of Rio de Janeiro’s plan is to increase its exposure to the world, then having additional tourist capacity available for the games will allow for increased exposure and may aid in marketing Rio de Janeiro.  The positive long-term effects of this may therefore outweigh this perceived “loss.”

The City of Rio de Janeiro and the Olympic Committee should explore and encourage the rehabilitation of unoccupied buildings near the port area as potential housing areas for its mega-sporting events. In addition, the shortage of housing units for tourists imply that there may be a need to control hotel prices in order to ensure affordability for spectators during the games. The recent trends of housing, in conjunction with the effects on local housing prices as seen in prior Olympic Games, also pose a need to evaluate methods to contain housing prices post-Games.

The City of Rio de Janeiro and the Olympics Planning Committee, in planning for the 2016 Olympics, should also consider the development of temporary housing for tourists and family members of Olympic athletes who would be converted into permanent housing units post Olympics.

From current figures of housing supply and projected increased as noted by the ABIH, it is clear that the current number of projected hotel units, at 27,000, is inadequate to house the projected number of family of the Olympic athletes, estimated at 40,000, and also falls shorts of the 40,000 person benchmark established by FIFA for the World Cup. ^xvii,xviii In addition, it has been noted by the Olympic committee that these families would prefer a more “home-like” family arrangement, such as an apartment as opposed to a hotel setting.^xix These figures indicate that there should be an increase in the development of housing units. The committee should conduct a study to determine whether the rehabilitation of the buildings in the area around the Port Maravilha project can be easily, cheaply, and quickly converted into apartment style housing could be easily converted post games into permanent housing, and compare this with costs associated with the building of new additional housing units.

Although the “fixing” of prices, as seen with the 2002 games in Sydney, will most definitely be unpopular with private investors building hotels, this option should be explored in the event that that the combination of demand and opportunism create high prices for accommodations, which will not only create a less affordable experience but which may be counterproductive for Rio de Janeiro’s image as a tourist destination.

In addition, the recent housing boom in Beijing presents a parallel to the current boom in Rio de Janeiro, as mentioned earlier. The appeal of owning housing used for the Olympics may have an effect on the prices of the units post games; in fact, there are plans to place plaques indicating the names of the athletes who lived in the units in Olympic Village.^xx This inherent value may allow for speculation to occur in the Olympic Village, which can be countered through a variety of policies. In Shanghai, speculation of the housing market was countered through the usage of sales tax policies to encourage housing owners to occupy their home purchases.^xxi,xxii In addition the local government of Shanghai established a series of strict regulations for buying affordable housing which were built for low-income families.^xxiii,xxiv Possibilities to consider with potential regulations of these options involve the family income of the housing buyers as well as well as the length of occupancy of the home.

Currently, there is no concrete answer to the issue of stresses placed upon the housing system by the need to house volunteers, because the magnitude of this effect is wholly dependent on the number of volunteers who require such housing, and although over 120,000 volunteers have applied already^xxv, the selection process has not been completed. Due to the nature of the current housing system as a weakness in the plan to develop Rio de Janeiro for the Olympics, planning for the number of non-local volunteers may require cross-area analyses with housing development.

One potential solution to address the stress on the housing system created by volunteers is to simply develop more housing, although it should be noted that this population group may occupy the housing only temporarily and thus this development will affect the supply-demand ratio for housing post-games. An alternative option is to seek available or potentially available housing built for other games, such as the Air Force and Navy barracks built for the Military Games in 2011 or unoccupied units from the 2007 Pan American Games. Provisional housing in this manner may be rental or free of charge to volunteers. With the latter option, this presents the opportunity for Rio de Janeiro’s games to develop a new model that could potentially incorporate a higher percentage of volunteers from outside Rio de Janeiro and Brazil, allowing for the development of goodwill that could be sustained post-Olympics. In addition, since the population housed within these structures is temporary, the committee or developer may convert the units post-games, thus minimizing risk in investment. Both options stated above requires that the selection process provides enough time for the construction of new housing, or the rehabilitation of unused buildings to provide such housing.
Ultimately, in order to adequately prepare for the games, the Olympic committee for Rio 2016 and the governments of the city Rio de Janeiro, the State of Rio de Janeiro, and Brazil should commission a study which will more accurately account for the supply-demand dynamics post games. This study should ultimately provide contingency plans for the city of Rio de Janeiro and study factors to be studied in its long-term strategic plans.  
SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT

 

Historic Preservation- Modern History of Urban Planning in Rio de Janeiro

 

Modern Urban Renewal Practices in the City of Rio de Janeiro began with Mayor Francisco Pereira Passos during his term from 1902-1906^xxvi. Francisco Pereira’s vision for Centro focused more on the practical than the preservation and thus, many colonial homes were destroyed.  In order to eliminate cramped housing and the spread of epidemic diseases, streets were widened and sanitation infrastructures were built.  Along with the building of Avenida Central, now Avenida Rio Branco, much of the construction displaced the poor, creating the first favelas of Rio.  Another major milestone in Urban Planning and Historic Preservation in Rio de Janeiro was the developed of the neighborhoods of Zona Sul.  In the 1920s under Mayor Antônio Prado Junior, Alfred Agache and a group of French planners designed Rio with the English Gardens-City Movement Theory.  Due to the complete destruction of much of the historic areas of the city, the Agache plan is cited as one of the greatest mistakes in urban planning in Rio de Janeiro.  This distinction is furthered by the fact that the Agache Plan disrupted the continuity of the city.  Beyond the Agache Plan, most of the rest of the 20^th century was guided by two plans, Corbusier, which established the Modern architecture movement and the Doxaidis plan, which helped alleviate the traffic problem by creating the Linha Vermelha and Linha Amarela.  Finally, and most importantly in the context of preservation, the Master Plan of 1977 created the Urban Structural Project or Projetos de Estruturação Urbana (PEU) which started a movement away from transit focused planning, and towards more historic and ecological preservation.^xxvii Even though the PEU projects did not create legislation, they did start a movement of preserving buildings to address life and health concerns.

Recommendations

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  Use the momentum from the events of the next 6 years to increase PEU projects, emphasizing the need to utilize the vacant municipal buildings in Centro.
  
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  Create and increase incentives for developers to preserve historic areas
  
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  Work with the Compur and the Municipal Secretary of Urban Policy to strengthen standards based on the World Green Building Council Standards
  

Culture is defined as “the sum total of ways of living built up by a group of human beings and transmitted from one generation to another.”^xxviii Preservation of culture for future generations is important so that we may fully realize from where we came and use it to guide where our community is going.  In the last century, increased world travel has at the same time both helped and hurt cultural preservation, particularly in areas where traditions are passed on just for tourism.^xxix Fortunately, Rio de Janeiro does not have this problem.  When visiting Rio de Janeiro, travelers are eager to participate in long-standing traditions, such as enjoying a match at Maracanã, relaxing on Copacabana beach, scaling Pão Açúcar, enjoying the Carnaval and Samba.  These activities are a part of the fabric of the lives of the Carioca and are a great cultural treasure.  However, most foreign travelers do not know much more beyond these often symbolic aspects of the Cidade Maravilhosa. Like many major cities, there is a rich history of art, architecture, gastronomy, all being preserved in Rio de Janeiro but not being presented to the rest of the world.  With a series of mega-events occurring over the next six years, it is critical to the tourism economy of Rio de Janeiro for the rest of the country and world to understand the city in a much more accessible way.

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  Promote lesser-known cultural attractions to visitors, foreign and domestic
  
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  Partner The City and Embratur with Global NGO’s for cultural education programs, examples include the LearnLink Program in Guatemala or Palestinian Association for Cultural Exchange and the U.S. State Department Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation^xxx
  
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  Utilize the IOC’s recent UN observer status to partner with UNESCO to promote education in Rio and Brazilian culture abroad through the Sustainable Tourism Programme^xxxi
  

Rio de Janeiro’s millions of anticipated visitors for the major international sporting events leading up to 2016 will demand high standards of basic living conditions, including but not limited to proper sanitation and waste management, adequate food diversity and supply, healthy air and streets, appropriately priced housing facilities, and additional healthcare facilities.  While the city prepares and provides high quality infrastructure for these visitors, many of Rio de Janeiro’s residents, predominantly those that live in favelas, fail to receive comparable – if any – services for their intrinsic needs.

As of 2003, 20% of favela residents did not have access to adequate waste management systems.^xxxii To minimize unnecessary transport of outputs, communities should establish composting programs for organic waste and recycling programs for inorganic waste.  Following Sydney, Australia’s waste management model from the 2000 Olympics can help communities establish zero waste during and after the athletic events in Rio de Janeiro.

Favelas in Rio de Janeiro tend to contain a high volume of informal economic activity.  Combined with their typical land use patterns of converting all community land into structures or paths, favelas cannot directly produce the food they consume.  The city should protect potential agricultural land proximate to favelas so that residents can grow food, particularly in those communities affected by the athletic events.  If possible, find creative ways to grow food in the favelas for further economic empowerment.

Both the city and state of Rio de Janeiro currently participate in the United Nations’ Clean Air Initiative Program.  However, the city should discourage toxic pollutants and high energy consumption while encouraging clean energy solutions to transportation, power, and industrial uses.

Twenty-three percent of Rio de Janeiro’s urban population does not have direct access to treated water.^xxxiii The water quality concerns derive mainly from industrial pollution, and this must be addressed in Rio de Janeiro’s city master plan and policy measures that aim to mitigate industrial and toxic waste.

Favelas in Rio de Janeiro are often built on unapproved land, which could allow legal banishment of favela residents.  Illegal favelas that are appropriately placed should be acknowledged and land ownership should transfer to community members.  The city should negotiate with residents of favelas that are in unsafe environments to ensure affordable living situations outside of the favela.

Recommendations

• 
  Broaden waste management systems to include all communities in the city
  
• 
  Establish Favela Agriculture Programs that secure viable agricultural lands near the communities and creatively grow food in the communities
  
• 
  Institute high water and air quality standards for all communities of Rio de Janeiro
  

• 
  Create citizen committees comprised of stakeholders to monitor the social impacts of the Olympic Games
  
• 
  Create social contract between residents and government
  
• 
  Invest in youth sports and education programs
  

 

Rio de Janeiro’s unfortunate image as an unsafe city is one that hampers its goal of developing into a tourism and industrial capital of the world.  With several mega-events occurring in the city over the upcoming years, efforts to change this image have the potential to significantly improve tourism and reduce crime. By taking a comprehensive approach to safety and security that publicizes recent reductions in crime and empowers communities to combat theft, violence, and drug trafficking, Rio’s upcoming mega-events will be safe, attract more tourists, and create long lasting benefits for its citizens. This section begins by showing that the world’s negative perception of crime in Rio is largely undeserved, and then compares efforts to change this image with Community Oriented Policing campaigns and the use of COMPSTAT systems in U.S. cities.

 
MARKETING: TOURISM AS LEGACY

One answer to the question of how the city government can best use upcoming mega-events to positively transform Rio de Janeiro in the long-term is to increase annual tourism – in particular by North Americans – before and after the 2016 Summer Olympics.  This is clearly something that city leaders and Olympic organizers have already planned to do at least conceptually.  But the specifics of how tourism will be increased have not yet been as clearly articulated.  We offer here analysis and recommendations for how this may be done.

Our focus here is on attracting more North Americans to Rio for three reasons.  First, North America is one of the two global markets with both many consumers who can afford an international vacation and it is relatively close to Rio.  Second, our expertise is in North America.  Finally, we believe that there is still potential for growth in this market.

 
This is not to say that our analysis and recommendations could not be applied either facially or with some modification to other countries (i.e., developed tourism markets like Japan or emerging ones such as China).  However, in order to focus our work, we tailored the analysis primarily to the U.S. and Canada.  We believe Rio can become one of the destinations of first choice for North American tourists if the World Cup and Olympics are used strategically as both a promotion tool and an opportunity to improve the Rio tourist experience.  As a result, and perhaps more importantly, we believe an increase in the annual number of North American tourists visiting Rio could leave the city a long-term legacy of an expanded service economy.   

Clearly, increased tourism in Rio is part of the city’s mega-events strategy and would greatly benefit the city.  While Rio still is home to the headquarters of several important Brazilian firms, the city lacks the economic dynamism it had after the federal government moved to Brasilia and much of the manufacturing and banking industries left for São Paulo.  Increased tourism has the potential to fill this gap and was a major consideration in the city’s quest to host a series of mega-events.  In the Rio Organizing Committee’s letter to IOC President Jacques Rogge, it states a “long-term major events strategy which will drive investment, tourism and promotion of Brazil to global markets” and that Rio expects a “long term boost to tourism and Brazil’s growing reputation as an exciting and rewarding place to live, do business and visit.”^xxxviii  The bid also projects 15,000 new permanent jobs in tourism, event & sports management and venue operations as a result of hosting the Games, plans promotion of Brazil as tourist destination by EMBRATUR at events abroad in conjunction with the Games, and states that “an important legacy of the Games will be the major destination marketing derived.”^xxxix

This is a strategy and outlook shared by Rio’s tourism industry.  Dr. Savio Neves from Pro-Rio was even more concrete in projecting an increase in tourism, stating that the tourism industry expects a 30% sustained increase in international visitors as a result of the World Cup and Olympics and that nationally the government has set a goal of more than doubling the number of U.S. tourists to Brazil from the current level of about 700,000 per year to more than 2 million.  But while Rio is currently planning how to accommodate the expected increase in tourists – upgrades to the city’s tourist infrastructure are already underway, including improvements of the cruise ship terminal and airport and an addition of 16,000 hotel rooms as well as renovation of many of the city’s existing stock of 24,000 rooms – exactly how all these North American tourists will materialize is less clear.

We urge caution on two points: winning the bid does not guarantee an optimal tourism promotion strategy and hosting the Olympics does not guarantee a long-term increase in tourism. It is only with a well-crafted and well-executed tourism marketing strategy cleverly tied to these events that Rio can build sustained growth in its tourism industry. For evidence, Rio need look no further than previous Olympic hosts.  Barcelona is an often-cited example of the transformative power of mega-events in jump-starting a latent tourism market.  Barcelona rose from a “European backwater” in the 1980s to a “must visit” city on the international tourist circuit.  But not every Olympic city has had such success.  Scholar Jon Teigland notes that, despite the strategy of the Norwegian government to use the 1994 Lillehammer Winter Games to promote central Norway as an international tourist destination, levels of tourism declined significantly only 1-2 years after the Games and did not meet projections, resulting in 40% of the full service hotels in Lillehammer going bankrupt five years later.^xl

 

Potential – Why the North American Market?

In many ways, Rio seems made for international tourism from the United States and Canada.  It has a combination of a stunning natural setting, pleasant climate, relative proximity to North America (and less of a time change than Europe), abundant attractions, and an exciting, welcoming and fun-loving culture meets exactly what many North Americans look for in a vacation.  At the same time, however, a conservative estimate (including just the hotel industry, tourist attractions, tour companies, etc.) is that only 3% of Rio’s economy comes from the tourism sector.^xliii  Also somewhat surprising is that, while the U.S. is the top country of origin for Rio’s foreign tourists in absolute numbers, North Americans make up not even a quarter of Rio’s international visitors and, per capita, North American tourists travel to Rio at a much lower rate than, for example, the French.²  This is despite the fact that the U.S. has a higher PPP-adjusted GDP per capita income than France and that a direct flight from Paris is actually slightly longer than a direct flight from New York.  Tourism in Rio historically may have dropped as a result of “the crisis,” but the World Cup and Olympics clearly represent a marketing opportunity both to attract more North American visitors to Rio and to change their expectations about their experience.      

While the overarching goal is to get as many international visitors as possible to come to Rio de Janeiro in the next decade, we decided to target certain audiences in the United States that might be more likely to visit in and around the World Cup and Olympics.  The following audiences and ideas are not exclusive.  In other words, these strategies can be employed to reach a wide variety of audiences anywhere in and outside of the United States.

0. 
   Professional Sports Teams/Leagues
   

·     Rio de Janeiro: Home of Sport

·     Bringing Games to the Next Level

·     More Than Just a Game

·     Rio de Janeiro: Playing With Passion

·     Rio de Janeiro: The Rise of a City, the Center of Sport

·     Embracing Passion

Type of Advertising: print ads; banner ads

Placement of Ads: team programs; banner ads; kiosk ads; team promotions; ads on Google

0. 
   Youth Sports
   

·     Rio de Janeiro: Warm, Welcoming and Wonderful

·     Rio de Janeiro: Sports and Sand Under the Sun

·     Rio de Janeiro: Wonderful Culture, Warm Climate, Welcoming People

·     Passion Game

·     Live the Dream

 
Target Audiences Before and After the Olympic Games:

0. 
   International Business Travelers
   

·     Rio de Janeiro is Ready

·     Rio de Janeiro is Rising

·     Rio de Janeiro: Open for Business, Open to All

·     The Future is Rio de Janeiro

·     Rio Has Arrived

·     Rio Unveiled

Type of Advertising: online ads, print ads; iPhone application; kiosk ads

Placement of Ads: local business journals; national business magazines like Fortune or Forbes or Business Week; in airports; in airline magazines; on or in taxi cabs; online news sites like Bloomberg.com or wsj.com; travel magazines; ads on Google

0. 
   Brazilians and Brazilian-Americans Living in the United States
   

·     The Return of Rio

·     Um Jeitinho to Rio

·     Find Um Jeito to Rio

·     Jogadores in Rio

·     Rio: Cidade de Esporte

·     Rio de Janeiro: Feel the Passion, Feel the Life

Type of Advertising: online ads, print ads

Placement of Ads: In Brazilian community newspapers and magazines in the U.S. such as The Brazilian, Brazzil Magazine, Florida Review, www.verdeamarelo.net, and Planeta Brasil on TV Globo International.

0. 
   U.S. Cities with Direct Flights to Rio
   

·     Rio de Janeiro: Right at Your Fingertips

·     Rio de Janeiro: Closer Than You Think

·     The Road Leads to Rio

·     Rio de Janeiro: Be Part of It

Type of Advertising: print ads; video ads

Placement of Ads: in airports; on kiosks on city sidewalks; taxi cab ads; travel magazines

 SWOT analysis is a simple tool used widely in both the U.S. public and private sectors to think systematically about strategic planning. Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats are listed as dimensions of a program or problem. Please see Appendix 3 for a SWOT of Rio as a tourist destination we used as a starting place for answering the question of how the city might attract more tourists in the long term. It is not exhaustive but provides some insight into our thought process and an example of how Rio tourism promoters might think critically about increasing its North American visitor figures.

 

Visa Process

Many countries enforce the use of a passport visa to gain entry to the country you are visiting and to regain entry to the country of citizenship.  The Brazilian visa allows a visitor to be in Brazil for a temporary amount of time and can be obtained from consulates around the country.^xlviii  It can also be obtained via the internet for an increased fee of about $250.  This fee may deter tourists from visiting; however, due to the Brazilian Law of Reciprocity, Brazil must treat tourists from a country the same as Brazilian tourists would be treated in that country.  While the Ministry of Tourism in Rio de Janeiro wants to keep this law, others want a more lenient system, especially during the upcoming games.  The current process of compiling one’s passport, a special photo, a copy of a driver’s license, a utility bill proving one’s home address, and a flight itinerary (including return) is a tedious one, and can be sped up by implementing an information system that would allow tourists to obtain visas upon arrival.^xlix  This may also allow tourists to extend their visa from five years to ten years of validity.  Whether it is for business or tourism, all U.S. citizens need both a passport and visa to enter the country.  Normally, the visa process takes from 2 to 15 days.  Implementing this kind of technology may have heavy upfront costs, but is ultimately worth the long-term investment.

 

Revisiting Search Engines

As students from the United States using computers, we discovered that it is very difficult to search for tourism websites using Brazil’s search engines.  If one can find anything, it is a “dot br” site that is in Portuguese.  The municipal government of Rio, the Convention of Visitor’s Bureau, Pro-Rio and the federal government of Brazil should work together to increase the web presence of Rio’ tourism websites, as well as that of the Consulates.  Below is a link to a basic search optimization engine that can be a start to increased global web presence.  http://www.searchenginejournal.com/55-quick-seo-tips-even-your-mother-would-love/6760/.  Moreover, the state of California has a website that provides all information that a tourist may ever want.  (http://www.visitcalifornia.com/)  It is the first link that comes up on the Google search engine when you type “California travel.” When you type in “Rio travel,” it brings you to http://www.lonelyplanet.com/brazil/rio-de-janeiro, a site with many forums that you have to navigate through to get the information you need. The idea of creating a single, easy-access website that incorporates everything a tourist would ever want would be an invaluable tool that can be used for years to come.

If a visitor to Rio does not know any Portuguese, he or she is at the mercy of the cab driver to reach their destination.  A person can be taken advantage of in a number of ways.  In order to minimize all threats, Brazil can continue looking into implementing an English language number to call for help in a taxi.  For example, Brazil can mimic what is already being done in Korea.  The “international taxi” service, where drivers are able to speak English or Japanese, was launched on May 1, 2009. The drivers are on a 100% reservation basis, and some airports even provide the option for foreigners to make the reservation at an information desk.  If one misses this chance, there is still the option to make reservations online or call a call center that is open 24 hours a day.^li  This idea would decrease the amount of fear tourists have traveling in the city of Rio and could increase the number of international visits.

In order to ensure that the needs of North American tourists are met, we recommend conducting public opinion polls.  This particular survey questionnaire below targets North Americans and seeks to gather quantitative data in order to promote Rio to them more effectively.  North Americans are our target group because the United States has the largest number of tourists outside of South Americans that visit Brazil – 721,633 Americans visited Brazil in 2006.^lii  As this survey is not exclusive to North Americans, the questionnaire can be used as a multinational model.  The survey can be conducted through several ways.  To reach a younger population, a Facebook account could be created to post this survey.  It can also be e-mailed using university networks or though travel agency databases.  The information gathered would be used as promotion tool.  By analyzing the answers, specific activities could be focused on to address what the needs and interests of tourists are.  A sample of the sort of questions can be found in Appendix 4.

lii "Ministério do Turismo - Dados e Fatos." Ministério do Turismo - Portal do Ministério do Turismo. http://www.turismo.gov.br/dadosefatos (accessed 9 June 2010).
Additional Works Cited
Environment
Rio Declaration on Environment and Development (Agenda 21). 1992. http://www.un.org/esa/dsd/agenda21/

 

 The Nature Conservancy. 2009. “What do the Olympics mean for Rio’s natural environment?” http://www.mnn.com/lifestyle/eco-tourism/stories/what-do-the-olympics-mean-for-rios-environment

 

Boscov-Ellen, Lisa. 7 Sept 2009. “Out of sight out of mind: Rio’s Slum Solution.”  http://www.thecuttingedgenews.com/index.php?article=11569&pageid=89&pagename=Features

Addis Ababa City Administration. 2007. “Eco-city.” http://addisababacity.gov.et/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=186&Itemid=192m

 

Tournemille, Harry. “2016 Olympics in Rio Part 1 - Urban biodiversity Going Carbon Zero.” Retrieved from http://www.energyboom.com/emerging/2016-olympics-in-rio-part-1-urban-biodiversity-going-carbon-zero

 

“Curitiba—designing a sustainable city.” http://home.clara.net/heureka/gaia/curitiba.htm (accessed 7 June 2010).

 

United Nations. “UN-REDD.ORG.” United Nations. http://www.un-redd.org/AboutUNREDDProgramme/tabid/583/language/en-US/Default.aspx (accessed 4 June 2010).

“European Climate Exchange.” http://www.ecx.eu/

“Chicago Climate Exchange." http://www.chicagoclimatex.com/

Transportation
American Public Media, 2010.  Retrieved from http://marketplace.publicradio.org/display/web/2010/05/27/pm-gps-data-may-pay-off-for-city-bus-riders/ (accessed 8 June 2010).
Social Development
Beltline: Atlanta Connected. “Historic Preservation Incentives.” http://www.beltline.org/ForDevelopers/HistoricPreservationIncentives/tabid/1774/Default.aspx (accessed 11 June 2010).

“Preservation Incentives.” http://www.preservation.lacity.org/incentives

(accessed 11 June 2010).
Security/Safety
“Rio shrugs off crime question in Olympic Bid.” 19 Sept 2009. USA Today. http://www.usatoday.com/sports/olympics/2009-09-19-rio-crime_N.htm
“The World’s Most Dangerous Cities.”  13 April 2010.  CNN. http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/04/10/dangerous.cities.world/index.html
Kikoler, Leslie.  7 June 2010. Rio2016 Presentation.
Camilo Branco de Faria, Antonio.  8 June 2010. Safety in the Olympic Games Presentation,
Anthony L. Sciarabba. 2009. “Community Oriented Policing and Community-Based Crime Reduction Programs: An Evaluation in New York City.” Professional Issues in Criminal Justice Vol 4(2), 27. http://www.icjrc.org/yahoo_site_admin/assets/docs/PICJ_V4N2_Sciarabba_27-42.255201658.pdf
United States Department of Justice. “What is COPS?” http://www.cops.usdoj.gov/default.asp?item=36
U.S. Department of Justice. Bureau of Justice Assistance. “Understanding Community Policing.” http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles/commp.pdf
George L. Kelling and James Q. Wilson. 1982. “Broken Windows: The police and neighborhood safety.” The Atlantic Magazine. http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1982/03/broken-windows/4465/
Scott, Robert H. III. Contingency Today. November 6, 2007. “Geospatial IT sharing will drive 2012 Olympic Security.” http://www.contingencytoday.com/online_article/Geospatial-IT-Sharing-Will-Drive-2012-Olympics-Security/752

 

Weisburd, David, Stephen D. Mastrofski, Rosann Greenspan, and James J. Willis. “The Growth of Compstat in American Policing.” April 2004. See Los Angeles Police Department Website: http://www.lapdonline.org/crime_maps_and_compstat/content_basic_view/6363

Marketing
“Brazilians Giving Up Their American Dream.” The New York Times http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/04/nyregion/04brazilians.html?pagewanted=all  (accessed 6 June 2010).

APPENDIX 1
[Transportation map from Olympic BID document (Vol 3, p 18)]


APPENDIX 2
Crime In Rio: Perception vs. Reality

CityHomicide Rate

per 100,000 ResidentsCaracas, Venezuela139New Orleans55Washington, DC 46Detroit 42Baltimore 38Rio de Janeiro 33Memphis 25Chicago 22Los Angeles 18

Source: http://www.benbest.com/lifeext/murder.html

APPENDIX 3
SWOT Analysis for Marketing
STRENGTHS

• 
  Scenery/climate/culture = competitive advantage
  

Historically positive image of Rio in the North American imagination (“flying down to Rio,” Carmen Miranda/Bossa Nova, samba, Carnaval, exotic flora and fauna), friendly hostsOPPORTUNITIES

• 
  North American love of competitive sports (soccer increasingly and Olympics in particular)
  
• 
  Relative proximity to São Paulo (business hub), air hub for Brazil/South America
  

Similar time zone to North America (unlike Europe or Hawaii)WEAKNESSES

• 
  High crime (actual and perceived)
  
• 
  High language barrier (hard to find English/Spanish/French speakers)
  
• 
  Developing country issues (ex. water)
  
• 
  Long distance even from southeast U.S.
  

Underdeveloped tourism infrastructure (airport signage, taxi cab communication, visa process, etc.)THREATS

• 
  Is “the crisis” irreversible (?)
  
• 
  Many competitors in the exotic/warm/interesting culture/long distance vacation market (Honolulu and Athens, for example, have similar airline ticket cost and flight duration from New York)
  

Many already savvy competitors in even closer proximity (California/Arizona/Florida + Mexico/Central America/Caribbean)

APPENDIX 4
Sample Marketing Survey Questions
(From Avaliação Externa-Programa “Ola, Turista!” Survey. 28 May 2010)

 

Question 1.

What is your main/native language?

 

Question 2.

Which city/state are you from?

 

Question 3.

How old are you?

 

Question 4.

Have you been to South America before? If yes, proceed with Question 5. If not, skip to Question 6.
Question 5.

If so, how many times before and when?

 

Question 5a.

To which countries?

 

Question 5b.

What do you think is the main problem with the tourist services, regarding the English, Spanish, and Portuguese languages?

 

            Pronunciation

            Vocabulary

            Comprehension

            Fluency

            Accuracy

 


Question 5c.

Please evaluate the quality of the presented services during your stay according to the scale:

 

(1)  Very bad; (2) Bad; (3) Average; (4) Good; (5) Very good; (x) Cannot evaluate

           

            Public safety

            Public transport

            Telecommunications

            Tourist signs

            Airport

            Restaurant

            Housing

            Nightlife

            Tourist guides

            Taxis

            Hospitality

            Public health

 

Question 5d.

Please evaluate the capacity of communication of the employees on the following services according to the scale:

 

(1)  Employees fully managed to help you (2) Employees partly managed to help you (3) Employees did not manage to help you

 

            Tourism agency

            Tourist attractions

            Nightlife

            Tourist guides

            Housing

            Restaurant

            Public safety

            Taxis

            Public health

 


Question 6.

If not, which South American countries would you like to visit?
Question 6a.

If not, what activities would you like to do during your visit?

 

Question 6b.

If not, what is stopping you from going? What concerns, if any, do you have about visiting?

 
Question 6c.

If not, how much would you be willing to spend on air travel?

 

Question 7.

Do you intend to visit Brazil in the near future?

           

            Yes, during the 2014 World Cup

            Yes, during the 2015 Military Games

            Yes, during the 2016 Olympic Games

            Yes, other periods

            No, because _____

 

Question 8.

What do you expect as regards the services to foreign tourists in Brazil, in English and in Spanish, for the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympic Games?

           

            To improve a lot in relation

            To improve little in relation to what it is today

            Not to change anything and to remain as it is today

            To get a lot worse in relation to what it is today

            To get a bit worse in relation to what it is today

 

Question 9.

What are you impressions about Brazil?

 

Question 10.

What would you like to see improved? Any comments would be greatly appreciated.